Kempsford Church of England Primary School

Kempsford Church of England Primary School Kempsford High Street, Kempsford, Fairford, GL7 4EY

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress across the school. Pupils do not develop their skills in handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar well enough and lack opportunities to apply these regularly to longer pieces of writing. In mathematics, pupils do not have enough opportunities to use their mathematic skills to solve problems.  Teachers do not always have high enough expectations and ensure work is neither too hard nor too easy. Lessons do not always proceed at a brisk pace and teachers do not check on learning regularly to ensure pupils’ progress remains fast. Pupils do not have regular opportunities to talk about their own and others’ work in lessons.  Leadership and management require improvement because teaching and achievement are not good. The school development plan does not have clear steps for improvement which can be checked by leaders and members of the governing body. The school does not have a system to check on

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

pupils’ progress so that leaders and governors can ensure pupils make good progress.  When leaders monitor the quality of teaching, this is not linked to the difference made to learning. Teachers are not given precise steps to improve their teaching and improvement areas are not followed up on in later observations.

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The school has the following strengths

 Standards are average in English and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2, and children make good progress in Reception.  Attendance has improved and is now average.  Pupils behave well and feel safe in the school. They are polite and courteous to each other and adults.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching in seven lessons, attended an assembly and listened to pupils read.  All observations of teaching were carried out with the acting headteacher.  Meetings were held with staff, pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and a local authority representative.  The inspector scrutinised the school’s information on pupils’ attainment and progress, records related to the management of performance and the monitoring of teaching, safeguarding and behaviour documentation, and the governing body minutes.  The inspector examined the 24 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), received written communication from parents and carers, and spoke to parents and carers when they brought their children to school. The 13 responses to the staff questionnaire were also analysed.

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Inspection team

Susan Williams, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The very large majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children who are looked after and children from service families) is above average. Approximately one tenth of pupils are known to be eligible for free school meals and three tenths are from service families.  A higher proportion of pupils join or leave the school at other times than the usual dates of school admission.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum

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Information about this school

expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Pupils are taught in five classes, mostly mixed-age. Children in Reception are taught with some Year 1 pupils, other Year 1 pupils are taught with Year 2 pupils. There is a Year 3 only class and a mixed-age Year 4 and 5, as well as a mixed Year 5 and 6 class.  Over half of the teaching staff have changed since the previous inspection. The co-headteacher became acting headteacher from April 2013.  Most governors have changed since the previous inspection and a new Chair of the Governing Body took up the post from September 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is consistently good or better by ensuring that:  teachers have higher expectations of pupils’ learning in lessons and work is matched accurately to pupils’ level of ability so it is not too hard or too easy  lessons proceed at a brisk pace, and teachers check on pupils’ learning regularly in lessons and adapt teaching if progress slows  pupils have more opportunities to talk about their own and each other’s work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement, particularly in writing and mathematics, by:  developing pupils’ basic skills in handwriting, punctuation, spelling and grammar  providing more opportunities for pupils to write longer pieces in literacy and other lessons  giving pupils tasks where they have to apply their number skills to problem solving.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  ensuring the school development plan identifies the areas for improvement, clear next steps and sets out how these will be monitored by leaders and governors  developing a simple and robust pupil-tracking system which is shared with all staff and used by leaders and governors to check that all pupils, including those identified for additional support, make good progress  focusing on the impact of teaching on learning when monitoring teaching, and ensuring teachers are given next steps to improve which are followed up in later observations.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because progress is not consistently good across the school. Pupils do not make good progress in all year groups, particularly in writing and mathematics.  Pupils do not always write neatly and there are common errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. There are not enough opportunities for them to develop the use of these skills by regularly writing longer pieces in literacy lessons and when learning about other subjects. Number skills are better developed, although there are not enough opportunities for pupils to apply these skills to problem-solving activities to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of the mathematics they have studied.  Children enter the school with skills and knowledge below those expected for their age. When they leave Reception, they have caught up, reaching similar levels to those found nationally in most areas of learning. This shows good progress from their low starting points.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children’s early reading skills are well developed and the classroom environment promotes the use of words, including those already learnt as well as new ones in colourful displays and ‘washing lines’ of words hung across the room. Pupils in Key Stage 1 continue to be well supported with their reading, and in the Year 1 phonics (the sounds letters make) check in 2012 pupils did better than pupils in schools nationally. This focus on reading continues across the school with all pupils having daily reading sessions in ability groups. Pupils enjoy reading and say they read regularly to adults at school and at home.  The school’s focus on improving reading also led to attainment at Key Stage 1 improving to be above average in reading in 2012. However, in writing and mathematics, it remained average. Standards at the end of Key Stage 2 are average in both English and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs receive additional help in lessons and in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

small groups. Progress for these pupils is not consistently good across the school and these pupils are not catching up with other pupils.  Pupils eligible for support for the pupil premium benefit from extra adult support in lessons and smaller class sizes as well as individual and group support. In some year groups and subjects, these pupils made good progress, but progress is mixed across the school. In Year 6 in 2012, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals were over two years behind other pupils in English and two terms in mathematics. For pupils from service families, the gap was one-and-a- half terms behind other pupils in English and about two terms behind in mathematics. There is more to be done to ensure that all pupils make good progress and that there is equality of opportunity for pupils’ learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because the quality of teaching across the school is too variable and there is not enough that is good. Teachers do not always have high enough expectations for how much pupils can learn in lessons and do not always ensure work is at the right level, so it is not too hard for less-able pupils and too easy for more-able pupils.  The pace of lessons is often too slow and pupils spend long periods of time on activities so their rate of learning slows. Teachers do not always check carefully in lessons, break up activities or adapt their teaching or the activities to ensure pupils make good progress. There are limited opportunities for pupils to work together in groups or to talk to each other about their work to help them focus on improving it.  In some lessons, for example in a Reception and Year 1 lesson, children were involved in different activities in groups where they were encouraged to talk about their learning. There

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

were different activities which were well matched to the levels of ability of Reception children and Year 1 pupils. The teacher and teaching assistant worked with groups on specific learning activities such as rhyming words and a musical poem. The teacher also checked on learning of the class to ensure all continued to make good progress.  Sometimes, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs have specifically prepared resources which support them in their learning at exactly the right level. For example, in a Year 1 and 2 literacy lesson, the teaching assistant worked with pupils to develop their skills of sorting in alphabetical order, checking on their learning and adapting the activity so pupils were challenged to write sentences. This ensured they made good progress. However, this group of pupils does not always receive work which helps them make the best progress in their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are positive relationships between pupils and teachers in lessons. Teachers routinely share the leaning intentions for the lesson with pupils so they know what they are learning. Target setting and marking have improved since the previous inspection. Teachers mark work regularly and give pupils positive comments about their work and an area they can improve. Pupils know their targets and how to improve their work, and say that marking is helpful.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour is consistently good across the school and in all teaching groups. Pupils are considerate and polite to adults and to each other. Behaviour is not outstanding as pupils’ interest wanders if work is too easy in lessons, and sometimes pupils do not look after each other at break or lunchtime.  Pupils understand about bullying and its different forms, such as verbal or physical bullying. They say bullying is not an issue in school. School records confirm their view is accurate. Pupils are confident that if they have a problem, they can talk to staff and they will help them.  There are very few behaviour incidents overall across the school and most are minor. Where there have been pupils who have had problems with their behaviour, the school has worked well with outside agencies to help pupils. As a result, their behaviour has improved.  Pupils behave well in assembly, with visiting speakers and their peers. Pupils say that they feel

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

safe in school. The vast majority of parents and carers agree that their child feels safe in school and that the school makes sure its pupils are well behaved. The school is effective in promoting good relations and ensuring there is no discrimination.  Pupils are positive about the range of rewards for good behaviour and effort in lessons. They like to receive house points and raffle tickets which are drawn weekly, and pupils receive a reward in assembly.  Attendance has improved and is now broadly average. Pupils are punctual coming to the school and to their lessons.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because actions have not ensured that teaching and achievement are good over time. The school improvement plan gives an overview but does not include clear steps on how improvements will be made. It is therefore difficult for this to be checked regularly by leaders and governors to make sure actions make a difference.  There is no system for leaders, governors and staff to check on the progress of pupils regularly so that they can see if pupils are falling behind and give them extra help, or to check that extra support given to pupils makes a difference.  Teaching is monitored regularly but this does not always focus on the difference made to pupils’ learning. Records of observations of teaching do not always give teachers clear steps for improvement, and these are not followed up in subsequent observations to make sure that they make a difference.  The acting headteacher is clear on the strengths and areas for development in the school.

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The leadership and management require improvement

Meetings with staff to discuss pupils’ performance on their classes have been introduced. There is a new performance management policy in place linked to the teacher standards (national expectations of teacher performance), and targets are linked to the quality of teaching, pupils’ progress and individual responsibilities.  The school gives priority in the curriculum to the development of English and mathematics. However, there are not enough opportunities for pupils to write at length, or for them to apply their mathematical skills to problem solving. Other subjects are taught through topic areas on a rolling programme of two or four years, so pupils do not repeat areas in mixed-age classes.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well developed. Pupils have regular assemblies and are encouraged to reflect on moral issues. Pupils learn about different religions and cultures, for example recent topic work on India is used across different subjects.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 The local authority has provided ‘light-touch’ support to the school and a range of courses for staff to attend.  The governance of the school:  The new Chair of the Governing Body has ensured that governors offer much more challenge to senior staff than had previously been the case. Governors are aware of national data on the school’s performance and what this means. They have discussed pupils’ progress with senior leaders and prior to the inspection had noted that the school needed to be able to track pupils’ progress and report on this more accurately. Systems are not robust enough for senior leaders and governors to have an accurate view of overall progress across the school and to ensure additional support helps pupils make good progress. Governors are aware of how pupil premium funding is being spent and know of examples of where this has made a difference, such as in Year 6 last year. Governors ensure performance management is in place and sign

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The leadership and management require improvement

off pay awards for staff. They have recently been updated on the quality of teaching and the support being provided to develop staff performance. They receive regular training and this is shared with other governors, for example the chair attended a course for governing body chairs and fed this back to governors. New governors have received induction to introduce them to their roles. Safeguarding meets statutory requirements.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 115629 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 412257

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 99 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Doherty Headteacher Pam Smart Date of previous school inspection 6–7 October 2009 Telephone number 01285 810367 Fax number 01285 810004 Email address head@kempsford.gloucs.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and whenand as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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